Hard work and the ability to toil away at a particular task are two qualities that are immediately visible in Pawan Suyal. As the rest of his team mates lounge around the club house as their DDCA Hot weather league match was delayed due to a wet outfield on Monday,Suyal ran laps around the Feroz Shah Kotla in his shiny green jersey. Once Suyals 20-minute run was over he got down to a combination of stretching exercises.

Following the injury,I have become particular about my fitness, says the Pauri,Uttrakhand born medium pacer. Suyal,22,sustained an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament and that meant missing the entire 2011-2012 first-class season for Delhi. The pacer underwent surgery in London and spent eight months recuperating. He says that he is now more aware of his body and the need to take care of it.

The Vijay Hazare Trophy was Suyals first foray into competitive cricket after his rehabilitation and since then,he has played a handful of cricket matches. Due to my injury,my franchise (Mumbai Indians) opted to leave me out of the final squad in the IPL,that was a disappointment but such is life. said Suyal.

Suyal is appearing for his club,Telefunken,in a number of tournaments and is hoping to find his rhythm before the domestic season kicks off. Earlier,I just used to run in and bowl fast,I didnt know that things like rhythm and variations existed. said the pacer who already has 35 first class scalps in ten games.

Suyals story is one that closely resembles a pleasant dream. The boy from the hills landed up in Delhi hoping to become a police constable. However while preparing for the Delhi Police recruitment exams,he played a couple of matches for Telefunken and the rest is history.

Quiz him on his rapid rise through the cricketing system,Suyal smiles broadly and says,Fortune has always favoured me. Suyal,before his knee injury,was a regular in the Delhi Ranji Trophy team and an important part of Delhis pace battery. His sizzling form on the domestic circuit had also resulted in him landing a contract with the Mumbai Indians.

IPL has been a great experience,I have spent three seasons with the team and even today I find it hard to believe that I play in the same team as Sachin Tendulkar. says Suyal. Though people in his village are in awe of him,Suyal is consumed by a fear that just does not go away. God was kind to me when I started playing cricket but now I think that everything that he has given me can also just disappear in a moment. Suyal says that working hard is the only way through which he can sustain his fortunes,To work hard is my job,and luck favours the better prepared, says the tall lad.

Suyals sights are set on getting himself back into shape and then proving that he is no one-season wonder on the domestic circuit. He concedes that opportunities in the Delhi team might be hard to come by,considering Ishant Sharma and Ashish Nehra are both available for selection. This year things are looking tough but I need to make sure that I grab the opportunities I get. says Suyal.

Suyal is well on his way to grabbing those opportunities as he helped his club side Telefunken defend a total of 115 in a rain-curtailed match in the DDCA Hot Weather tournament. Suyal bowled his allotted three overs conceding just 11 runs in the process. Suyal bent his back and generated considerable pace off the wicket,constantly troubling the batsman with pace and bounce which is his forte.

One abiding regret that Suyal nurses is that even after spending three seasons with the Mumbai Indians,he is yet to get a shot at strutting his stuff in the IPL. If I get a chance,Im sure I will shine, says Suyal who has recently built a new house with his IPL earnings and has relocated his entire family from the small house that they used to inhabit in their village.

However,the bewildering effect that a big city like Delhi has on newcomers is still evident in Suyal. Suyal who recently bought a car says he is afraid to drive in the city. I still travel by metro as driving in this city scares me, says the pacer with a smile.